While picking up my copies of JLA 95 and Avengers/JLA 4 this evening, Rich, the owner of the shop where I buy my comics mentioned how he had to increase his JLA order for the current arc. He has more than doubled his regular order on the title, and he credits it solely to the fact that it's JB and Claremont working on the title. Rich made it a point to tell me that the books are selling...not just taking up space on the shelves. He tells me that his customers are really digging it and he actually expects that he will cut the order back to pre-JB numbers when the arc is over.
Yeah, My LCS also upped orders for the JB run, and have been selling out (normally they have a couple for the shelf which might last a week, #94 and #95 are sold out 24hrs later). Not sure how much they increased their order by, but perhaps it should have been more!
They're planning to keep the post-JB orders at the JB-inflated level for a while, because the post-Hush batman sales caught them out, when everyone who'd jumped on board for Jim Lee didn't immediately drop it as expected.
So it seems everybody wins out of the JB arc. We get to see JB's stuff, JB gets to play with the toys, DC and the LCS get more sales, the knockers get to Byrne-bash.... everyone's happy!
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You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different.
The issue after the arc is finished is # 100, so orders will be high on that as well. What orders are like on subsequent issues will no doubt be greatly affected by who the creators are.
All fine and dandy, but bitter experience has taught me there are some retailers out there who are watching JLA fly off their shelves who will still under order, or refuse to order DOOM PATROL because "Byrne's stuff doesn't sell."
Heck, we have already seen some of them using Ordway as the excuse for the success of the JLA run. One clown even reached back to claim that Terry Austin was "saving" my stuff on X-MEN.
Remember, we are dealing with people who would rather lose money than let got of their mantras.
All this talk about these bad retailers, has made me realize how lucky I am. There isn't a single retailer here that has a bad attitude towards John. They all think he's great, and will order any comic book you want.
All this talk about these bad retailers, has made me realize how lucky I am. There isn't a single retailer here that has a bad attitude towards John. They all think he's great, and will order any comic book you want.
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Luckily there are not a lot of these morons. Just too many for this marketplace!
It would appear that JLA is doing well at my local shop as well. When #94 arrived, it sold out on the first day and they had to reorder. When I went in to pick up #95 there was literally 5 slots in a row filled with the title.
There was also a couple of different "camps" of people in store flipping through and discussing the book. It certainly seems to have everyone's attention.
All this talk about these bad retailers, has made me realize how lucky I am. There isn't a single retailer here that has a bad attitude towards John. They all think he's great, and will order any comic book you want.
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Luckily there are not a lot of these morons. Just too many for this marketplace!
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A friend of mine has the theory that you shouldn't make your hobby your job. I disagree (only in that I'm a workaholic and my "hobby" is my job -- writing ); however, I can see her point.
Too many comics fans decide to become retailers when they have no real business skill or knowledge. Yes, I know the ideal bookstore is run by someone who loves books; however, my favorite used bookstores are not overgrown clubhouses for overgrown kids. They'll sell you Stephen King if you want, even if the guy is reading Tolstoy.
Yes, I know the ideal bookstore is run by someone who loves books; however, my favorite used bookstores are not overgrown clubhouses for overgrown kids.
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The ideal store of any kind is run by people whose primary concern is serving the needs of the customer. If this means going the extra mile to special order something not in stock, so be it. If this means selling products that the seller does not himself use or care for, so be it. (The exception, obviously, being products that are morally repugnant to the seller, or illegal in the seller's community.)
Comic shops began, unfortunately, on a foundation with two cornerstones: dealers and fans. Dealers mostly did not care at all about comics, beyond wanting to make as much money as they could from them. Fans cared too much. Neither attitude makes for good business sense.
Real stores, with people with real retail sense, have evolved from these shaky beginings, but there are still enough of the "other kind" to do damage. (You can spot them easily enough. They're the ones who, when I say "Some retailers are bad" cry out "Byrne is dumping on all retailers!!")
Any retailer who can show me a moral or legal reason for not ordering or supporting a product, I will applaud. Any retailer who does not order or support a product because s/he doesn't like it personally is a fool.
I get a kick out of the guys at the shop I go to. The employee frequently badmouths JB, and was something of a jerk when I added DP to my pull list. Fortunately, he's not the owner, and he doesn't do the ordering.
The owner, who remembered my name the second time I went there, is naturally happy whenever I add anything to my pull list. The only books I've ever heard him badmouth are ones that ship late.
Fortunately, in this case, the right guy's in charge.
I've always lived near a high quality comics shop. Moondogs in Chicago when I was growing up, Star Clipper in Saint Louis while I was in grad school, and now Underworld in Ann Arbor.
Underworld has an extensive back issue section, including a section of about 5 long boxes worth of comics bagged into sets of 5 or 6. Lots of JB in there, including Alpha Flight, Man of Steel, Action, She-Hulk and Namor. JB's stuff is always well-stocked. In fact, copies of Generations 3 is still displayed with their current books.
And when I special order something they're not familiar with, they usually ask me for information, to find out if they should order extras for other customers.
I live in the Richmond, Virginia area. For new comics I go to Richmond Comix in Midlothian. The guy who owns the store is not a Byrne or Claremont fan, but will always order Claremont and Byrne projects. I go to Stories Comics for very cheap back-issues and to trade-in back issues. Both of these stores are cool.
This message has been edited by SteveMerritt on Apr 2, 2004 9:11 PM
Nice to see VA represented so well. Yeah, Kev....the area has changed just a bit over the last few years. Any green space around here is on borowed time these days.
